This thesis focuses on employees' experiences of fit and misfit at work. This falls
within the person-environment fit (PE fit) literature which is based on principles founded
in interactional psychology that when a person fits the environment that they are in,
positive outcomes, such as job satisfaction, will result. Despite a wealth of empirical
studiesin theP E fit field studyingv ariousa spectso f individuals' fit with their work
environmentt,h erea re significantg apsi n knowledgea ndu nderstanding.O neo f thesei s
that little researchh as investigatedh ow employeese xperiencefi t andm isfit. A secondg ap
is that little is known aboutm isfit and whethert his is the oppositet o fit, an absenceo f fit
or a separateca tegoricasl tate. The researchf ocusedo n theseg apsi n the literaturea nd
took a qualitative, exploratory approach to gain in-depth understanding of the factors
affecting individuals' fit in organisations.
Causalm appingt echniquesw ereu sedt o allow the study'sp articipantst o express
their perceptionsw ithout beingp romptedt o speaka bouts pecifict opics. The resultingd ata
were coded using measures from the PE fit literature to explore whether the extant
measuresa dequatelyc apturedp eople'se xperiencesa nd also to assessw hethert herew ere
differencesb etweenf it andm isfit. The researchfo und that the extantP E fit measures
explainedp articipants'e xperienceos f fit andm isfit well but that ast hesea re focusedo n
factors within the organisational environment, they miss external factors such as people's
links with their communities. It seems that the majority of individuals experience misfit to
some extent but that overwhelming misfit perceptions can be triggered by a change in the
organisation. Misfit and fit are shown to differ, most profoundly in that whereas fit is a
positive experience, misfit is negative and a state to be avoided.